Weigh In: Children in Fine Dining Establishments
 

Do you believe that parents should feel free to bring children (under the age of 7) to a fine dining establishment (think Spago, Ruth's Chris, Morton's, etc)?

Discuss...

Re: Weigh In: Children in Fine Dining Establishments
 

I don't think Ruth's Chris or Morton's are really fine dining establishments. The only Spago that I would and have frequented was in LA.

-Rudey
--I've got snob written all over me.

It is absolutly fine to bring children to Fine Eating Establishments!:)


But Shock Collars should be issued at the door so when little monsters act up---Zap their asses!:D

Re: Weigh In: Children in Fine Dining Establishments
 

NO:o

I think maybe children over the age of 10 should be allowed. Anything younger than that is asking for trouble. I don't go to Spago and spend $200 on dinner to have a kid screaming and crying or banging on the next table.

it depends on the behavior of the child. i have seen some kids 3 or 4 years of age that i wouldn't mind seeing in a fine dining establishment and 10 or 11 year olds that should never have been allowed to enter. i think parenting and the child's disposition have a lot more to do with it than age. yeah, i guessi think that *some* children should be allowed, but some should not.

The children should be screened by management before entering, plain and simple :)

What he said!
The last thing I want is some little crumbsnatcher screaming and acting a fool while I am trying to enjoy my dinner!

I think Ruth's Chris is nice :(

- Tracy
-- Hey, I'm nouveau riche , what do I know???

I HATE paying a lot of money to go to a nice resturant and have children screaming and misbehaving. If you have money to eat at nice places then leave the kids at home and get a babysitter!!!!

Definitely not, unless they are well behaved regardless of age. Several years ago, was having lunch with my mom, her friend and the toddler son of the friend at a somewhat expensive casual Italian restaurant. The child started acting up and throwing food, some it landed on neighboring guests trying to enjoy their meal. His mother had to apologize for her son. It got to the point that they had to leave the restaurant while my mom and I finished our lunch on our own.

There is nothing that ruins my dining experience that a child misbehaving. It is even worse when it is a fine dining establishment.

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I was given the opportunity to live abroad and do a LOT of traveling (read: to over 20 countries on four continents) before my eighth birthday, because my dad's job required him to do a bunch of stuff overseas. The company my dad worked for was pretty nice about paying for nice hotels and nice restaurants, so I grew up going to really really nice places. However, my parents raised us from an extremely early age to behave like little angels in these places - you know, quiet, respectful voices, napkins in your lap, proper use of silverware, etc. We never even considered acting out in any of these places because we knew if we did our parents wouldn't take us along on trips - so we never acted out, threw fits because we couldn't find anything to eat (we all grew up to have an adventurous palate and will try basically anything) or anything of the like. We were also given the opportunity to fly first class and the same standard of behavior was expected from us, which we also met.

If parents are going to raise their children the way my parents raised my siblings and I - that is to say, if they teach them how to behave in nice places and impose consequences if children misbehave - I see no problem in taking them out. On the other hand, kids who are going to act out and create scenes have no place eating at the Olive Garden, let alone a nice restaurant.

I never set foot in a restaurant until I was 8, and I knew that if I didn't behave I would have to sit in the car for the rest of the meal.

Keep yout kids at home. Children should be neither seen, NOR heard.

As a child (as young as 4), I frequently accompanied my parents to fine restaurants. I was taught from a young age how to behave at table - proper use of napkins, proper use of silverware (including which fork to use for what), how to sit up straight and sit still, etc. Even when my parents and I were eating dinner at home on a Tuesday night, I was expected to uphold the proper standards, so you can bet I behaved at restaurants!

I was also exposed to a wide variety of foods from many cultures, not just burgers and hot dogs and other "kids' food" - so I was always adventurous.

The only thing that annoyed me was when I went to restaurants that offered a children's menu, and the hostess would just grab a children's menu for me without asking. I used to insist on a "real" menu :p

If a child is capable of behaving in public, sitting quietly during a potentially long meal, not making a fuss because the restaurant offers filet mignon and poached salmon rather than hot dogs and chicken fingers, then I have no problem whatsoever. But kids who habitually misbehave, act out, throw tantrums, etc - they get to stay home with a babysitter until they learn to behave properly in public.

Can we put people who obviously don't belong in these resteraunts, regardless of age (think EARP) in shock collars too?

I have no problem taking my children out to a fine dining establishment/private clubs. My children are well-behaved in public for the most part. If they act up, we go have a "chat" in the ladies room. This has rarely been necessary. We expect them to use table manners wherever we eat - home, a friends house or a nice facility.
I get season tickets for the local theater's kids programs, and take one daughter at a time out on the town. We usually go with another mom and daughter, and get dressed up and go out to dinner at a fancy place before the play. The girls really get excited about it, and it gives them a goal to work towards in using those perfect table manners.

My brother and I were also very well behaved kids and were taken everywhere with my parents. Fancy restaurants, cocktail parties, even weddings. I remember hearing my mom tell a story about how a certain bride would got mad because there was a 2 year old (me) at the reception. But then she felt silly because I was just sitting on my mom's lap, quietly coloring in a coloring book and sipping milk from a kiddie cup we'd brought.
My parents did this all the time, and when and if I started to fuss they would just leave.
More often than not parents get selfish and try to continue socializing while their children throw hissy fits upon the floor. It doesn't work. Just leave!
Restaurant management will not be upset if you leave in the middle of a meal due to a fussy child. One parent should go out to the car with the kid, while the other pays and waits for the left-overs to be bagged. Then go home and put the kid to bed, and then you and the folks at the restaurant can finish your meals in peace!

I'm fine with well behaved children.
Anything else is unacceptable.

Too bad there isn't a litmus test for children.
Or their parents.

reflecting back...my parents accepted nothing less than good behavior when we were out in public. but i would agree fussy children do not belong in public.

I like seeing children everywhere. If the child doesn't have a significant behavior problem, then I would not mind one bit. I am not sure I would take a child to a really expensive restaurant though, because they can be picky eaters, and that's a lot of money to spend on food they wouldn't eat!

I am the opposite of many of you... I cannot stand going to a restaurant and seeing parents get dirty looks and be basically made to feel like freakin' pariahs because their two-year old is ACTING LIKE A TWO YEAR OLD in public. I am definitely in the minority, but the little happy shriek-y noises that babies make do not bother me; they make me smile! If a child is crying, screaming, whatever, that's just what babies do! Some people behave so rudely to moms and dads with upset children. Seriously folks, if someone's four year old is crying in the middle of Spago, they don't need the added stress of your disdainful glares! I would hope that the parent would remove their child from the situation and take it to the bathroom or outside, like AXO_MOM_3 said. If your child has behavior problems, then I agree, they do not belong in a nice dining atmosphere. Otherwise, I think parents should be free to eat wherever they wish with their children.

I'm okay with children in five-star non-national chain restaurants if they can be calm for an hour or two. Otherwise, no one's happy--not the kids, the parents, or the other patrons.

I'm sure we all think we were perfectly behaved children, and that our children are or will be perfectly behaved.

My nephew and I (he's three years younger) went to fine-dining establishments in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when we were very small. But that's because we had good home training and knew how to behave in public. My Mom and Dad would have our butts if we showed out. It truly is a generational thing.

Fine dining
 

I, too, was taken to nice dinners while very young on special trips or for special events. I actually remember eating at the Rainbow Room in the Royale Orleans before I was 2.
We always used table manners, even at home, so it was just not a big deal. Just something special. :)
However, I have been (once) at a very expensive ($180 per person) dinner and seen a child screaming and hitting his mother. I was shocked. Not so much because it was a nice dinner, but because I would have NEVER thought of screaming and hitting my mom! :eek:
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